Surrender
by cnfzdpsychosis
Summary: And no matter how badly Sky wanted to, when Bridge looked at him like that, he couldn't say no. Rated M just to be safe, nothing explicit.


A/N: Merry Christmas! Or, if you prefer, Happy Holidays! Either way, my gift to all of the lovely readers of my fanfiction.

Schuyler Tate was not one to run from his problems. More often than not he would run straight at them, tackle them to the ground and wrestle them into submission, but he was almost positive that he couldn't do that to Bridge. The green ranger _might _get a little upset with him. But this feeling wasn't going anywhere and neither was Bridge. Sky knew he had a problem.

Kat told him it was stress. He had simply overworked his body and it needed a chance to rest. He knew she was lying but allowed himself to be manipulated onto the bed and hooked up for monitoring. It was definitely more than stress; he wasn't sleeping, wasn't eating, he couldn't focus. He should've easily been able to avoid the hit that had landed him in Kat's office or, at the very least, been able to put up his shield, yet Sky had done neither. He couldn't even remember what it was that had distracted him in the middle of such a serious battle, but his steady decline was beginning to draw attention.

"Guys, have you noticed anything weird about Sky lately?" Z asked worriedly.

"You mean besides the fact that he's even more of a recluse than he normally is?" Jack responded, flipping through a random magazine with disinterest.

"I'm serious! I don't think he's been eating and I know he hasn't been training because we have the same practice time."

"Whoa, wait a minute, backtrack a bit there." Jack paused, setting aside his reading material. "Sky hasn't been training?" Z shook her head 'no'. "Okay, that proves something's wrong. Bridge, you're closest to him, have you noticed anything majorly different with Sky? Bridge? Bridge. BRIDGE!" The green ranger's head snapped up and he smiled guiltily as he shoved aside his plans for the ultimate toaster.

"Heh, sorry. Um, I haven't really seen him. I don't know where he's been going at night but he doesn't get back until after I'm asleep." Syd raised an eyebrow at him and he sighed. "Which is usually around two a.m.," he elaborated.

"So he's not training, possibly not eating, definitely not sleeping. Something must really be bugging him," Z stated.

"Or he's trying to get himself thrown out of the academy," Jack pointed out. Syd rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, Jack, that must be it," she replied, smacking the back of his head. "Do you think you could find out what's bugging him?" she asked, turning to face Bridge.

"Who, me?" he asked in disbelief.

"No, Bridge, the blue fairy standing directly behind you," Syd replied sarcastically. "Besides, you're closer to him than the rest of us." Jack and Z murmured their agreements before wandering over to watch TV. "And just think," she continued, whispering. "It'll give you an excuse to follow him around without seeming like a stalker." Bridge flushed. He knew Syd was aware of his feelings for the blue ranger, but he had yet to actually stalk the man. He stuck with watching and fantasizing. A lot. Like all the time.

Bridge was half tempted to tell Syd to stalk him herself but, hey, it was a free opportunity to stare wistfully at Sky and hopefully learn a little bit more about the normally reserved ranger. How could he pass up an opportunity like that?

* * *

"You're hovering again," Sky pointed out as a shadow fell across the page of his book.

"Oops. Heh, sorry. Is it annoying you?" Bridge asked worriedly. He was leaning over the back of the chair, almost flush with the blue ranger, and attempting to read over his shoulder.

"No, it's fine, just shift a little." Bridge did as asked, desperately trying to keep his mind occupied on figuring out what Sky was reading. It was futile though, he couldn't make out the words on the page and it would be so easy to just crawl into Sky's lap and – _'Bad Bridge! Knock it off!' _he mentally chastised.

"What are you reading?" he asked, interrupting Sky's own dilemma.

"I Have A Dream."

"Really, what is it?"

"It's the name of the book, Bridge…"

"Oh, what's it about?"

"It's the twenty most memorable writings and speeches of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr."

"Oh," Bridge said, nodding. "That's cool." Sky nodded, barely registering what Bridge was saying. In fact, he wasn't even registering what he was reading. He was pretty sure he was reading the same line over and over again. He was pretty sure he was reading the same line over and over again. He was pretty sure he was reading the same line over and over again. He was pretty sure he was reading the same line over and over again.

"Yeah," Sky nodded. "It's got his 'I Have a Dream' speech and 'Letter from a Birmingham Jail'." Bridge nodded, quickly losing interest. History had never really been his thing, but science? He had always had a love of science. "Uh, Bridge?" Sky asked, looking up at the green ranger. He had unconsciously shifted again, blocking the light.

"Sorry," he laughed, deciding to just sit on the arm of the chair. It was quite the convenient solution to the light crisis, but Bridge's new close proximity to Sky was creating new problems, namely for the blue ranger. He forced his eyes to stay on the page but he could swear that he felt the heat radiating from Bridge's body and every movement he made felt like little electric shocks. Sky was quickly losing a battle with his hormones; it was all he could do not to throw the younger ranger down and fuck the innocence out of him. Standing quickly, he almost knocked the green ranger over.

"Er, sorry," he apologized. "I'm going to go train," he continued, trying to make a hasty exit.

"Alright," Bridge nodded. "I'll come with you." So saying, he hopped off the arm of the chair. Sky mentally racked his brains for any excuse to get away from his friend. Finding none, he resigned himself to seeing a sweaty and panting Bridge. Sky inwardly groaned – it was going to be a long day.

* * *

"Come on, Bridge, just do the block like I showed you." Bridge nodded, trying to keep his mind on the task at hand, but it was becoming increasingly more difficult. Facing Sky, he nodded to show he was ready and the blue ranger launched himself towards the other. Bridge dodged, rolling on the mat before pulling himself into a one-armed walkover. Sensing Sky to the left, Bridge blocked, proud to have used the new technique Sky had just taught him. While Bridge was astonished at how fast he had learned, Sky took the opportunity to throw the other ranger. Bridge quickly twisted his body in the air, launching himself into a round-off before stopping his momentum with a no-hands cartwheel into a split. Never before had he been happier that his parents had made him take gymnastics.

Sky stared at the green ranger. He's known that Bridge was fast – he had the highest score in overdrive training – but he'd never known that he was so flexible. Sky swallowed hard, taking a deep breath before helping Bridge stand.

"You okay?" he asked. He hadn't realized how hard he'd thrown the green ranger until he'd seen how long it had taken Bridge to stop. Bridge gratefully accepted Sky's help – he didn't trust his legs to hold him up. Besides, he _was_ slightly disoriented. Round-offs always made him a little dizzy.

"Yeah," he nodded slowly. "Round-offs. Dizzy," he explained shortly, keeping a tight grip on Sky's arm. The blue range bit back a laugh but he couldn't help smiling. Bridge was just so damn adorable!

Hanging onto Sky, Bridge desperately tried not to drool. He knew the blue ranger was strong but hell – he was practically solid muscle! With that kind of power, Sky would have absolutely no problem – _'No Bridge! Bad!'_ he chastised again. Shaking his head, Bridge realized belatedly that Sky had been talking the entire time he had let his mind wander.

"Um, what?" Sky looked at him in concern.

"Are you sure you okay? Do you want to see Kat?" Bridge scowled. "Right, you don't like doctors."

"It's not that I don't like doctors," Bridge explained. "It's the poking and prodding and testing that they do. Bridges weren't made for that sort of thing," he elaborated, gesturing with his hands and promptly beginning to fall over.

"Bridge," Sky asked, catching the falling ranger, "did you eat anything today?" Bridge paused.

"Nooo," he said slowly.

"That explains why you're so loopy," Sky stated, picking Bridge up bridal-style and heading towards the cafeteria. "Come on, let's get you something to eat."

"You know, I can walk," he protested, but it was merely to save face. Sky snorted.

"Sure Bridge. Knowing you, you'd probably fall down a flight of steps."

"I would not! Besides," he added, "that only happened once, thank-you very much."

"You're not helping your case. And stop whining, we're here," he stated, kicking the door open. Setting Bridge down, Sky went to buy them both lunch – or in Bridge's case breakfast – silently wondering at the fact that no one had asked why Sky had been carrying the green ranger or even bothered to give them a second glance. Curious – very curious.

"What is _that_?" Bridge asked, staring suspiciously at the plate Sky set before him.

"Spaghetti and meatballs," he answered, digging into his own plate.

"Gross," Bridge mumbled, poking at a meatball. He swore it pushed back at him. "How do you eat cafeteria food?"

"Eat at least half of your plate without whining and I'll give you both pieces of garlic bread," Sky promised.

"Garlic bread, please," Bridge asked two minutes later. Sky looked up from his own plate to see exactly one-half of the green ranger's plate cleared.

"I said 'eat', Bridge, not 'inhale'," he laughed, handing over both pieces of bread to the grinning man. Bridge shrugged.

"I like toast."

* * *

"So?" Syd asked, prodding for answers.

"So, what?" Bridge asked back.

"Sky, Bridge. What's going on with Sky?"

"Well, he's well read, a hell of a lot stronger than he looks, and he drives a hard bargain when negotiating." Syd rolled her eyes.

"That's not what I meant, Bridge. What's bugging him?" Bridge shrugged.

"I don't know. He seems fine. He even taught me a new block, easy to remember and effective."

"Bridge, focus." The green ranger nodded, reminding himself that he was supposed to be helping his friends. "Ok, so here's what you do next. When Sky gets ready to go out tonight, put on your best puppy-dog pout and ask if you can go with him. No one can resist the pout. See where he's been going and try and find out why he's been going there, alright?"

"Syd, I'm not so sure about this. I feel really bad about lying to him like this and I don't like being used this way," Bridge argued. "Besides, what if he gets suspicious and wants to know why I'm practically stalking him and asking all these questions, huh?" he pressed. Syd put up her hands in surrender.

"Bridge, I promise you, if you can't figure out what's going on with Sky by tonight, then I'll let it drop. And if Sky gets suspicious and asks what's going on, then tell him the truth; his teammates were concerned and I forced you to play turncoat, alright?" Bridge nodded, tired from the whole ordeal.

"Fine," he conceded. "Later." Bridge turned, winding through the hallways of SPD until he made it to the room he shared with the blue ranger. Entering, he checked the time before collapsing on his bed. He had one night left to find out what was wrong with Sky and exactly half-an-hour before he'd be heading off base. Biting his lip, Bridge made his decision to follow Syd's orders and pushed himself up off of the bed, going to take a shower.

Exiting the bathroom after his shower, the younger ranger almost barreled into Sky.

"Oh, hey, Bridge. What's up?" he asked, slipping into the bathroom.

"Not much, you?" Bridge answered politely.

"Just getting ready," Sky replied, shouting through the door.

"Are you going out again?" Bridge asked as Sky came back into the room. The blue ranger nodded his answer as he grabbed his jacket. "Can I come?" he asked. Sky paused with his hand on the doorknob. As he glanced over his shoulder, Bridge pouted pleadingly.

Sky's mind raced in a thousand different directions as he contemplated Bridge's question. The green ranger wanted to come with him, but Sky wasn't sure whether or not he was ready to share this part of himself with anyone. He glanced over his shoulder, set on telling Bridge that he would have to wait until another time only to find the younger ranger pouting at him. And he knew it was over. The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

"Sure. Get ready."

* * *

Bridge, for the life of him, would never have seen this coming. The club was dimly lit, the dance floor was crowded which in turn raised the already warm temperature and the people were dancing so close together, sweat was sliding down their bodies, adding to the humidity. It was loud, it was gritty, it was everything Sky wasn't and Bridge was at a loss as to exactly why they were here. Yet Bridge did know the vague outline of the answers to that question. They had gotten in because Sky had walked to the front of the line, muttered a 'He's with me,' while nodding at Bridge and they'd been let in, no questions asked. When Bridge asked why they were there, all Sky would answer with was, 'to dance'. Which he was. They were barely in the door before screaming girls plagued them.

Bridge casually leaned against a column, watching as Sky moved smoothly to the music while dancing with yet another girl; the green ranger could never recall such an intense feeling of _wanting_. He sighed, silently wishing 'if only'.

"Hey." The voice pulled Bridge out of his silent reverie and he turned, nodding noncommittally at the stranger. "You looked like you could use some company," he stated, moving closer. Bridge automatically shifted away. "Hey, there's no reason to be that way. Why don't we take this somewhere less crowded?" he asked, grabbing the ranger's wrist. His tone of voice was meant, Bridge was sure, to be both soothing and inviting, but to him it sounded like nails on a chalkboard and he shook his head, pulling against the stranger's hold.

"I'd rather not," Bridge answered, but the stranger ignored him, maneuvering both of them through the crowded dance floor. "Let…go…" Bridge hissed, desperately searching for Sky as he continued the struggle to free himself. The stranger turned, backhanding the green ranger with his free hand.

"Knock it off, you little shit," he warned, all pretense of politeness fading. Bridge stared in shock, free hand covering the already bruising cheek. Before either could make another move, Bridge's assailant was flat on the floor and Bridge himself was being led out of the club in the safe embrace of the blue ranger.

* * *

"Ow," Bridge gasped, wincing slightly as Sky placed the ice pack against his cheek.

"Sorry," he muttered, avoiding Bridge's gaze. "I shouldn't have left you by yourself for so long. I shouldn't have even taken you," he finished, shifting the pack to cover more of the bruise. Bridge shrugged.

"Hey, I had a good time, all things considered. I just don't get why you go there every night."

"Release." Bridge looked at him in confusion but Sky's back was to him as the blue ranger rifled through the medical cabinets.

"Release?" he asked, pulling himself onto the medical table and letting his legs swing. "Release from what?" Sky sighed heavily, staring at Bridge as he opened a tub of cream. "Well?" Bridge prodded, starting away from the blue ranger when he began to rub the cream against his cheek. "That's cold." Sky smirked but continued rubbing it on the green ranger's cheek.

"It'll help the bruise fade faster," Sky responded, eyes flashing darker in anger as he remembered how Bridge had gotten it.

"Don't change the subject," Bridge admonished. Sky rolled his eyes and seriously contemplated telling the younger ranger a lie. Except Bridge was staring him down with _that damn pout_. And no matter how badly Sky wanted to, when Bridge looked at him like _that_, he couldn't say no, couldn't lie. So he surrendered, surging forward and claiming Bridge's mouth, only stopping when air became a pressing matter.

Shock seeped into Bridge – never had he expected his feelings to be returned, and he belatedly realized that Sky was pulling away from him. Wrapping his arms around the standing ranger, Bridge pulled him back, initiating a kiss of his own and suddenly the fact that he was tired, the fact that his cheek hurt – it didn't matter. Sky pulled him closer and Bridge wrapped his legs around his waist as he was lifted off the table.

Feeling the mattress underneath his back, Bridge wasn't quite sure how they had gotten to their room but feeling Sky moving above him, the green ranger dismissed the thought, briefly wondering just how many guys Sky had done this with. He knew Sky had been going out clubbing for a while, but Bridge still wasn't aware of which particular activities Sky had indulged in. Suddenly, that thought was dismissed as well because Sky was with him, in him; Sky _wanted_ him, and Bridge's last coherent thought before going over the edge was that he was damn well going to make sure it stayed that way.

* * *

Lying flush with the younger ranger, Sky pulled Bridge closer, wrapping his arms more securely around his sleeping form. Bridge happily curled towards the blue ranger, tucking his head underneath Sky's chin. Sky grinned, hugging the younger ranger protectively to him, making one last decision before joining the other in sleep. From now on, instead of fighting his attraction to Bridge, he'd just surrender.

Reviews Please -

Come on, it's the holidays...


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